Be warned: D800 grip rubber comes loose

I haven't been reading posts here for a good few weeks as I've been busy with work, which has mainly revolved around my D800/D800E cameras.

Now I have a cautionary tale to tell. After less than four months of (I would say) average use, the rubber around around the grip on my D800 stretched and started coming loose.

The really strange thing is that I left the camera on my desk in the night in perfect condition, as far I could see. Next morning I picked it up and to my horror it looked like the rubber was streching and not fitting correctly, leaving a 10mm x 5mm gap on the underside of the body grip. Definitely not weather sealed any more.

I sent the body back to Nikon, and have just today received an email from them saying that they will charge me for the following:

I was shocked that they are charging me for this. I can hear the sniggers from some of you already, but seriously... the Nikon warranty states:

"This warranty will
not
cover: - necessary maintenance and repair or replacement of parts due to due to normal wear and tear"

Do they consider the rubber grip coming apart from a professional grade body in less than four months "normal" ??

Rather, I think in this case I should be covered by this clause in the Nikon Warranty:

"If during this period of guarantee the product proves
defective due to improper material or workmanship
, our authorised service network in European countries will, without charge for labour and parts".

Now, I fully expect I'm going to have a battle on my hands trying to convince Nikon of this. I got the email after their office was closed, otherwise I would have been on the blower with them immediately. As it is, I'll have to wait till tommorow before I can call them. Will keep people here posted, if anyone is interested.

Would any of you expect the rubber on a camera like this to start coming loose after only 4 months? I've used cameras
a hundred
times older that that which have not needed any repairs are still in top notch condition. Sigh.

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"The job of the photographer is not to record indisputable fact but to try to be coherent about intuition and hope."
-- Robert Adams